Rodney Stuckey continued his struggles, part of which could be attributed to his migraine headaches that he's getting treatment for. He hasn't made a basket on this trip, missed all six of his attempts Sunday and for the season, he's 1-for-23 — with the Pistons getting off to such slow starts, perhaps they'll explore sitting him until he recovers.

His backcourt partner, Brandon Knight, wasn't much better, either. Knight, a second-year point guard, had trouble initiating the offense and had five turnovers. The Pistons shot 35 percent from the field, allowing the Lakers to shoot 62 percent in the first half.

After the first two games, winnable ones that slipped out of the Pistons reach for some reason or another, this one had a different feel — especially the starting five, which didn't have a player reach double figures.

Through three games, Rodney Stuckey has been the biggest disappointment in the league. If the Detroit Pistons want to remain competitive in the Eastern Conference this season, they’ll need Stuckey to play at a high level. One week into the season, that’ hasn’t happened. Stuckey has missed 22 of his 23 shot attempts for the winless Pistons. That’s right: Stuckey is shooting 4.3 percent from the field.

“Obviously he’s struggled,” Lawrence Frank said of Stuckey. “We need him to play better. He’s been dealing with some physical problems, but we need better from everyone. Look, in the first two games obviously we did some good things to at least have a lead in those games but tonight it was a TKO.”

Migraines have limited Stuckey’s minutes and production. However, he blames the move to shooting guard for his struggles. Last year, he backed up Brandon Knight and played a lot of minutes at the one. Now, he’s no longer the Pistons’ main ballhandler when he’s on the floor, playing off the ball instead. He hasn’t been able to adjust and hopes to move back to the role he played last year.

“I feel like I’m not in a rhythm at all,” Stuckey told David Mayo of mlive.com. “I just feel like last year, I was having the ball in my hands, being able to create, [and play in] transition. Coming in [during] the second quarter [when Brandon Knight went to the bench last year], being the point guard, and being able to use my post position on smaller guards, I just feel like I’m not using that right now.

“Hopefully, we’ll make some changes and we’ll see what happens. There’s a lot of basketball still to be played. I’ll find my rhythm, though. I know I’m struggling. But I’ll find my rhythm.

“I’m just in the corner a lot more, just watching, instead of out there creating, and stuff like that. But we’ll figure it out. We still have a lot of basketball to be played.”

Tayshaun Prince acknowledged that Stuckey needs to be more aggressive but added that he and his teammates need to do a better job of getting the guard involved.

“Whenever a player is struggling, whether it’s shooting the ball or not doing what they usually do, it’s up to the team and our coaching staff to get involved and try to find a way for him to get out of it,” Prince said. “We’ve got to do a better job of that.”

While it sounds like Stuckey wants to move back to point guard, Frank isn’t sure if that’s the right decision. Rather than making drastic changes after three games, he wants to give Stuckey more time at shooting guard and see if he can be effective after playing his way out of this slump.

“My thing is this, I know Rodney’s going to play a whole lot better,” Frank said. ”I have full confidence that he will. So, to me, it will turn. It’s always easiest to make knee-jerk reactions when either your group or certain individuals are down. It takes courage to stand by your convictions.”

I always said I liked Stuckey at PG because he had that size advantage. At SG that completely goes away. Last year he was putting up huge numbers at the end of the season though. He needs to find a way to do that once again. It wouldn't be such a bad thing if we were bad enough to get a top pick though.... then we could draft Shabazz Muhommad . Imagine a young core of him, Knight, Monroe, and Drummond with Stuckey as a 6th man! Then we could just save all that cap space for keeping our young guys around.

I always said I liked Stuckey at PG because he had that size advantage. At SG that completely goes away. Last year he was putting up huge numbers at the end of the season though. He needs to find a way to do that once again. It wouldn't be such a bad thing if we were bad enough to get a top pick though.... then we could draft Shabazz Muhommad . Imagine a young core of him, Knight, Monroe, and Drummond with Stuckey as a 6th man! Then we could just save all that cap space for keeping our young guys around.

Exactly. That's why I don't mind having a bad season. I like our drafts the past few years, but we're still not there yet. I just want to see our young guys get better (Knight, Monroe, Drummond). Monroe could be a beast. I don't see him as a superstar though. Knight could be good. I need to see him keep growing. He isn't consistent yet. Give me a few more assists and keep the shooting consistent. I don't see him as a superstar either but good is enough. Drummond could be huge for us. I really want him to get some experience this season. The rest of the young guys are just role players. Let them grow and embrace their roles.

This team isn't as bad as what they're playing now. Stuckey will bounce back. Prince hasn't been quite what he was. Maggette being injured hasn't been good for us either. There's a chance they could end up in the bottom 5 teams of the league though, which is perfectly fine if we end up 1 or 2 in the draft. We need one more really awesome piece and then we'll have enough. Just save the cap space to resign our young guys. Don't go OKC's route, draft a Harden, and then lose him. With one more big time draft pick we could be a team that's back in the mix for the next 5-10 years, like we were before.

I always said I liked Stuckey at PG because he had that size advantage. At SG that completely goes away. Last year he was putting up huge numbers at the end of the season though. He needs to find a way to do that once again. It wouldn't be such a bad thing if we were bad enough to get a top pick though.... then we could draft Shabazz Muhommad . Imagine a young core of him, Knight, Monroe, and Drummond with Stuckey as a 6th man! Then we could just save all that cap space for keeping our young guys around.

Hey dd24.......they should trade Stuckey to the Lakers for Steve Blake
I would love that

Hey dd24.......they should trade Stuckey to the Lakers for Steve Blake
I would love that

I'd love that too actually. Pistons fans always rip on Stuckey, but he's one of the teams best players. I think if they traded him then people would finally see what he actually brought to the team. It would be one of those things where they don't know what they have until it's gone.... Everybody in Detroit wants to make him into this SG. Of course now that they drafted Knight he has to be too. He's a more natural PG. He's more of a scoring PG but he is more of a PG than a SG. I don't see him and Knight being a great back court. He'll either have to go to another team that will actually utilize him the way that he should be or he needs to be a 6th man.

I would actually like to see him get traded. With the team being 0-8 it might just happen.

Then who would play SG?? It's not like anyone of those 2nd round picks are going to play that position better. They would need to trade for another SG, lol. What team is going to do that? I think it would be awfully difficult to move Stuckey right now. Prince seems the most likely to get moved. He's still got some game left and could really put a contending team over the top. I'd really just like to stock up some draft picks. This draft doesn't look like it's going to be all that great so far. Maybe picks for other drafts. I really don't want to bring in any kind of long term contracts. I think this thing gets fixed through the draft. Then we'll need that money to keep our players around.

Knock on wood.... but how awesome would it be to get that top pick. That would change things around in a hurry. We don't even need a C anymore so we could probably trade it for the #2 or #3 pick and another pick. I'm just hoping we can finally end up in the very top and land a guy that can be a superstar rather than drafting 5-10 like we have been. With a really good SG or SF drafted this year, next season would be turned completely around. Drummond looks pretty good so far. Monroe is awesome. Knight shows promise. We're almost there. Nobody wanted to listen to me when I was saying it would take longer than they wanted a few years back. I knew it would be 3 or 4 solid drafts.

What actually worries me more is Knights season so far. He has looked super loose with the ball, his hands have looked terrible and his drive and dish always ends up in a turnover... This worries me as I saw massive, massive potential in this kid... But hopefully he shakes this bad start off and starts playing better...

What actually worries me more is Knights season so far. He has looked super loose with the ball, his hands have looked terrible and his drive and dish always ends up in a turnover... This worries me as I saw massive, massive potential in this kid... But hopefully he shakes this bad start off and starts playing better...

He hasn't been all bad. I agree, I would have liked to have seen more progress. He still does things that makes you wonder what he's thinking. It seems like he's trying to get people involved more though. I like that. I'd like to see his shot fall more consistently. He's still better than what some teams have.